Fallout: Absent Mercy
by GaminginHonor
Summary: The year is 2289. William, 14 years old, strolls into one of the few places left untouched by the Great War, Charlotte. Murder and many other atrocities still took place within it's limits, but it was the closest that the Carolina Wastes had to an actual civilization. Will's visit might seem routine to him, but it's result was nothing close to it. Rated M for language and violence
1. Genesis

Hundreds of years ago, during the Great War of 2077, two great nations rained fire and nuclear death on each other, reducing the world to rubble and radioactive ash within two hours. Those few fortunate enough to survive did so in a strange way. Days before the war, the American government installed 101 bunkers across its vast nation. This is the story of a descendant of one of those people.

Chapter 1: William

"Of fucking course there's nothing here!" I muttered to myself. Only a few days earlier, i had seen the great city that i was searching through. The maps i had found while scavenging had labeled this place "Charlotte". Months of Vault history lessons had taught me that this place was filled with prosperity before the War, and was one of the few cities standing for miles around. "Days of searching, and what do i fucking get?!" I looked over to an alleyway on the other side of the street. "Guns, apparently." I had found a small rifle laying beside a dumpster. Upon further investigation, i noted that the rifle had five rounds in it, and fifteen more rounds in a box beside it. I laid under the dumpster, because that rifle must've been a trap. Shortly after i did, three people dressed in the skins of Brahmin, walked towards my place of shelter.

"Hey, where'd my trap go?" One of the rugged men said, looking down the alleyway trying to find me. I took a short moment to look at my options. There were five rounds in my new gun, and only three people before me. No, no, it would be a waste of ammo. There was another alleyway to the right of me, but i would have to leave my cover to get to it. They could probably run faster than me, and my end wouldn't be a painless one. Before i could do anything though, i heard three pistol shots, and the three men before me fell to the ground dead. I slowly crawled out from under the dumpster and slowly peeked around the corner.

"Don't worry kid, i won't shoot you." A voice called out. When i looked to see it's owner, what i saw terrified me.

To be continued…


	2. Abandonment

**Hey guys! This is, of course, the second chapter of Fallout: Absent Mercy. I would like you guys to know that from now on, I will be posting a new chapter to this story once every Wednesday. Thanks for reading and please send me a review, each one helps. See you all next week! -Gaming in Honor**

Chapter 2: Abandonment

The human tank that stood before me didn't look as friendly as he seemed to be.

"You okay, kid? Need some help?' The man said to me, putting both of his hands on my shoulders. I didn't move, and him trying to be caring scared me even more than his armor. It was combat armor for sure, but was made of metal. His revolver was still smoking in his holster, and didn't help him and his attempt to sooth me.

"W-what are you?" I asked in a horrified sense of curiosity. If i could see through his helmet, that feeling in my gut might be quenched.

"I know that you're scared kid, so i will tell you my names." The armored man took his hands off of my shoulders and waiting until he knew i was listening. "I am The Lonesome Wanderer, The Absent Mercy, and Paladin of The Brotherhood of Steel. But you can call me by my real name, Richard." Richard then took off his helmet. His face had a strange expression on it, discerning yet murderous at the same time. "Now that you know my name, how 'bout you tell me your's?" Richard seemed like he had interrogated people before, and the angry look on his face seemed routine.

"My name's Will, sir." I my attention then went to another group of five bandits walking down the street behind Richard. I pushed the Paladin away, grabbed my rifle, and managed to shoot one of the Wasteland-tempered men in the shoulder, putting him on the ground in pain. Richard was surprised at first, but instinctively pulled his revolver from it's holster and made quick work of three of them before pulling me into an alleyway as the only standing bandit threw a grenade where we were standing. He shielded me from the explosion and put two bullets into his revolver. Peeking around the corner, Richard pulled the trigger, and the last bandit's body made a loud thump as it landed on the cracked asphalt.

"Holy shit." I said. Richard's marksmanship shocked me. He managed to hit a man in between the eyes from 150 feet away almost, and with a 44. Magnum to boot.

"Oh fuck..." Spoke the only remaining bandit as he started to run away in sheer terror. Richard took my rifle off of the ground, waited for a second, then put a hole where the man's heart was.

"Gonna have to report this to the Elder, convince him to bump up security so we can make sure no raiders will try to attack the bunker. Might as well take you along to, kid." Richard gave me my rifle and a pat on the back, then motioned me to follow him. We walked until we reached a large concrete bunker, with a man sized hatch on it. Richard spoke a password into an intercom beside of it, and we entered his underground home.


	3. Underground Anxiety

**Hey guys, Gaming in Honor here with the third chapter of my Fallout Fanfic! To be honest, this story is based off a school project i had, but i changed a lot about the story from school to the site. I do hope you all enjoy it! See you next week! -Gaming in Honor**

Chapter 3: Underground Anxiety The first thing I saw when i entered the bunker was a small room with two laser turrets and another door, except it looked thicker than the one on the outside. "Put this on, or the turrets will turn you to ash." Richard said, giving me his helmet. I put it on, and the turrets deactivated, seeing no potential threat near them. As we neared the door, a screen above it flickered on, and a man with a plasma rifle appeared on it. "Come on in, DeWitt." The man said in a thick accent. My father told me that those kind of accents are German. My knowledge of what German was was limited, but i had to go off of what i had. "Wait a moment, what is an outsider doing here?" The man yelled. "You SHOULD know what happened the last time an outsider was brought in." "Yes, i know Ludwig. It's a miracle that we're still alive. Just get the screening room ready for him. Don't let past incidents could your mind." Richard spoke into the screen, with an angry scowl on his face. "Ugh. Fine then, bring him to the screening room. I will be there shortly." Ludwig sighed after he said this, and the screen turned off. The door then began to slide down, revealing a narrow staircase and a well-lit landing at it's base. Once we reached the bottom, a door to our left slid open and Ludwig stood in the doorway. "Follow me, Kleiner." Ludwig motioned me to follow him, and i did so until we reached a door with a large window beside of it. The German then typed something in on the door's terminal and it opened. "Go in there ünd be patient." I walked in the room and the door slammed shut behind me. Multiple red, flashing lights turned on, and multiple scanning instruments came down from the ceiling and began to run a multitude of tests on me, and i could do was stand still until the tests were concluded. "No diseases, small amounts of radiation. You must have traveled a long ways to get here,Junge." The door beside of me opened and Ludwig walked in. "I'm going to have to take your rifle, for security reasons of course." He walked to the corner where i had put my gun and picked it up. " Follow me to the mess hall, you seem hungry." I followed Ludwig through a few hallways and down a flight of afterwards, we walked into the mess hall. It was about half an hour since i had entered the bunker with Richard, and now i saw him in the far side of the room eating lunch. He saw Ludwig and I, and waved for us to sit down and eat with him. "Good to see Lud over here didn't go paranoid." Richard said, snickering at his own sarcasm. "Might as well have something to eat." He got up and grabbed another plate of the strange food they were eating. "Pork-n'-Beans and some Nuka-Cola. I'm sure you'll like it." He said, sliding me my meal on a tray. I hadn't had Nuka-Cola in a long time. The sweet soda and the hearty canned food settled my stomach. After a few minutes of awkward silence between me, Rick, and Ludwig, a man dressed in robes came up to Richard and whispered into his ear. "Well fuck." He said after he had heard the things that were silence to my ears. Richard slowly stood up. "Come with me." He said with a shocked look on his face. Me and Ludwig followed him, with Ludwig constantly asking questions "What is going on?" He said. "Is there an army out there? Why won't you answer me?!" Ludwig's expression was filled with anger and curiosity. His fists were clenched like he was getting ready to punch Richard for being unresponsive. Richard opened a door that read "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" and then closed it behind us. "We just got a report that Recon Squad Echelon went black." Ludwig's expression went from angry curiosity to pure terror. "B-But how?" Ludwig asked. "They are the best Recon Squad we had! How the hell did they die?!" Ludwig's terror and shock fueled his anger further. He punched the thick metal wall behind him, leaving a small dent, and the sound of his left wrist cracking. "The last thing we got before their black-out signal was this." Richard pulled up an image on the nearby terminal, and a gritty image appeared on the screen. "Guess this is what took them out." "Deathclaws? Those things haven't been spotted around here since i was a Kleinkind." Ludwig put his hand on his chin with a discerning look in his eyes. "Is that all? Just two Deathclaws?" "Just before that, that's where shit happened." Richard said in shock and anxiety. He pulled up another picture, and that's when Ludwig's jaw dropped. "A Super Mutant? RIDING A DEATHCLAW?! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!" Ludwig punched wall again, making a dent in the wall bigger and definitely worsened his already broken wrist. He winced in pain his he held his arm.

"Somehow, those mutie bastards managed to tame those things. I don't understand it, but i'm not going to question it either." Richard said, playing with his revolver. "The question is, where was Echelon when they died their horrible deaths?" Ludwig asked, wanting to know how screwed the bunker was. "About 10 miles away from here." Richard replied. "We're going to have to bump up the bunker's defenses. Most of those Super Mutants are dumb, but some of those things can track you for a farther distance than that. If one of them managed to tame Deathclaws out of all things, they can sure find this bunker." Richard opened the door that we were behind, and ran down the hallway to speak with the Elder. "I think it's about time you get some target practice in." Ludwig said to me, motioning him to follow him. We went back towards the screening room, but took another staircase down. The German typed a long password into the terminal beside the door, and the metal door unlocked and slid open. "This is the armory!" Ludwig proclaimed, as i saw the room filled with energy weapons. Some of them were like the plasma rifle Ludwig carried around, but some looked like they could take out anything in one shot. "This cabinet here holds the weapons that someone your size could handle." Ludwig told me, looking at my scrawny frame, and opened the cabinet. Inside was five 10mm pistols, a hunting rifle like the one I brought in, and a 12.7mm submachine gun. "Now. Which one do you want?" He asked. "I guess i'll take these two." I said, pointing to one of the pistols and the hunting the one I brought in, this rifle had a scope and a larger magazine, and the pistol just heavy enough for me to shoot accurately. "Good choice. I'll get you some ammo and a backpack to put it in." Ludwig walked through another door, and came back about a minute later with a backpack full of ammo, a few Stimpaks, and some Rad-X. "Thanks, Ludwig." I said with a smile on my face. I hadn't seen a Stimpak in three years, and i knew i might be needing them. Though there wasn't any radiation around the area that i knew of, i knew the Rad-X would come in handy. "No problem,Junge." Ludwig walked up the staircase and i followed him to the target range. After some much needed target practice, we went back to the mess hall and ate supper. Richard walked in and sat down with a worried look on his face. "I hope this won't cause panic." Richard sighed out of nervousness. "The Elder said he would announce it about now." Richard ate his food and waited in silence. An intercom in the room turned on and a voice spoke from it. "Attention everyone." Every head in the room except for mine, Richard's, and Ludwig's turned towards it's source. "We have received a report stating that Recon Squad Echelon has fallen. The reports also state that the cause of their demise was a group of Super Mutants who managed to tame a large pack of Deathclaws. The bunker is now on Red Alert. No one will be allowed to leave unless i know a day ahead of time. If anyone would like to investigate Echelon's demise further, please come tell me." The intercom turned off and everyone in the room was silent. "Let's go." Richard said. I got up and followed Richard, and Ludwig brought a couple of people with us too. "Shit's gonna get real after today." Richard said, opening the large door to the Elder's office. ****

**Whew! This chapter took me a while to write, and sure leaves one heck of a cliffhanger! I do hope you guys enjoyed it, and be sure to favorite and review! -**Gaming in Honor


	4. Desolate Hope: End of the Genesis Arc

**Hey there everybody! Gaming in Honor here back with another chapter of **_**Fallout: Absent Mercy**_ **, and i do hope you enjoyed the last chapter. (Oh the cliffhanger!) I intend to keep my chapters as long as Chapter 3, if not longer, from now on. Be sure to favorite and review! See you all next week!- **Gaming in Honor

Chapter 4: Desolate Hope

"Why hello there, gentlemen." The Elder said as I walked into his office with Richard. "And i guess i already know why you five are here." I turned around and saw that two more armor-clad men, whose armor wasn't as thick as Richard's stood beside of Ludwig. "I may have said that you had to wait a day before you leave the bunker, you five are my only exception. The threat that is facing us will come quickly and swiftly if we don't deal with it quick enough." The eldest of the bunker sighed. "And if Super Mutants weren't bad enough. Grab whatever provisions you need and scout the area where Echelon went down. We don't need to lose anymore people." Richard saluted and began to walk away. "Before you go, Senior Paladin." Richard turned his head around to face his superior. "Be sure to get that kid there somewhere safe." The Elder saluted Richard back and then turned to his computer. "Keep this whole matter silent, we don't need any more panic than we already got."

"Aye aye, sir." The door quickly opened as Richard walked past it. I followed, and so did Ludwig and the two strangers next to him.

"What all do we need to get?" I asked Richard as i remembered how little weight was on my shoulders before Ludwig gave me my backpack.

"As much food, water, and ammo we can, kid." We came to a door, and Richard typed a long password into the terminal beside of it. "You two better consider yourselves lucky. Only Senior Paladins and The Elder are allowed in here." The door opened and the armory that i was in only hours ago was before me.

"Well what about this little runt right here? How come he's allowed in here? He's not even in the Brotherhood!" questioned one of the soldiers behind me, and Richard quickly uppercut him, sending one of his teeth flying.

"You shut the fuck up before i gut you like a Brahmin." Richard said as he picked his victim up by his chin. "I may not seem like it, Jenkins, but i'm called Absent Mercy for a reason." He then threw Jenkins into the armory, and walked in after him. "Now get your ass up and get some provisions ready." I walked in after Ludwig and the other man walked in with a mix of surprise and expectation on their faces. I grabbed a couple packs of Rad-X and looked through the gun cabinet again, taking the 12.7 mm submachine gun, and hid it in my pack. I then looked to the two Junior Paladins, knowing from the basic knowledge that Richard taught me about the Brotherhood. They looked like they had been put down extensively, but i could not tell if it was from lack of skill, or in Jenkins' case, bad attitude.

"Fuck you, DeWitt!" I heard him yell before Richard punched him again, making his nose bleed profusely. Richard pointed at the ground, probably telling him to stay down, and stood up.

"Daniel, you have my full permission to kick the shit out of him if he dares move before i get back. Come on, Will." Richard and Ludwig walked out of the room, and i followed them in a not so hesitant manner. Before i left though, Jenkins moved and received another kick to the head as a result.

"Where are Rogers and Jenkins?" Asked the Elder when we walked back into his office. "He had a temper tantrum, i suppose?" Ludwig nodded his head in response, and the Elder facepalmed. "I think it's about time Jenkins was discharged. Knock him out when you're on your mission and leave him to rot, for all i care. You'd all best stay the night and leave in the morning. I'll see you all in briefing." The Elder saluted, and his subordinates saluted back. All three of us left, let Jenkins go back to the Junior barracks, and we all went to sleep in our freshly cleaned rooms.

The first thing i heard when i woke up was a revolver being loaded. I looked away from the wall and saw Richard sitting at the desk across from my temporary bed, almost ready to wake me up himself.

"Oh, goodie. You're awake." Richard handing me a bowl of Pork' N' Beans. "Best get used to that, because that probably the only thing we're gonna eat until this mission is over." I accepted the canned nourishment and got my things ready shortly after. Richard had told me how Recon Squad Echelon, the people whose bodies we were to find, operated. Three teams each made up of two snipers, some of the Brotherhood's finest. A six-man death squad, they were. Neither of us could understand how they went down, but it was Richard and Ludwig's mission to find out. "About time we get going." Richard said, opening the door of my room and walking out. Shortly after i got dressed, i ran back to where the screening room was and met Richard and Ludwig at the entrance of the bunker.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, let's get going." Ludwig spoke to all of us, then glaring at Jenkins.

"You'd best not do anything stupid or we will not hesitate to either throw you to the Deathclaws or kill you ourselves." Richard then opened the heavy door and the five of us walked out into the blinding sunlight. We all covered our eyes for a moment, but we quickly adjusted. Ludwig nodded to a person still inside the bunker, and the door quickly closed behind us.

"Get behind cover, quick." Richard said quietly, pulling me behind an old car and Ludwig followed Richard's lead, pulling the two Junior Paladins behind a building and silenced them. A squad of Super Mutants walked onto the street about one hundred yards away.

"Something tells me humans are here!" Screamed one of the green, muscular mutants.

"Silence, Cain. If we can't find any, the Deathclaws will. All we will have to do is wait." Spoke another. He was dressed in scraps of power armor and bits of metal from cars, making some impromptu but effective armor.

The other mutants grumbled, yearning for a chance to kill a human. Richard pulled something from his bag and threw it at the group. The round object exploded with a bright loud and a loud boom. The mutants all covered their ears, and two of them started screaming in agony as their ears began to bleed. The mutant in the armor started to run away, but I pulled my pistol and shot him in the abcense of armor that was the back of his knee, effectively slowing him down. Ludwig, Jenkins, and Daniel came out from behind cover and put down the mutants who were still recovering. Richard had already ran up to the intelligent, limping mutant and knocked him out. He then cut off the mutant's hands and feet off, and burned the wounds shut with a blowtorch.

"We'll interrogate him when he wakes. But in the meanwhile, let's scout some more. Rogers, stay here and make sure our potential info isn't compromised. You three, with me." Me, Ludwig, and Jenkins followed Richard, keeping our guns out, ready to kill and live another day.

A few hours later, we returned with some food, water, and a small amount of ammunition. The intelligent mutant stayed where Richard had laid him out, awake now and knowing what Richard would be doing once we returned.

"Has he said anything yet?" Ludwig inquired, curious if Rogers had done anything to the cripple or not.

"No sir. He's been awake for a good twenty minutes now, but he's made no response." Rogers was a decent person. He obeyed his superiors, and he seemed like he could kill quickly if push came to shove.

"Please kill me already. I have failed my mission and deserve to die." The mutant has still lying down, facing up, and his face was completely expressionless.

"Now, since you failed that mission, how about you tell me what it was." Richard pulled out his knife and stabbed the mutant before us in the thigh. "Tell me, and I'll give you the death you deserve, mutant." Richard stared blankly into the mutant's eyes and waiting for his screams of agony to stop.

"Why should tell a human my mission, even if i fai-" The mutant was cut off my Richard's knife being stabbed through his took the knife out of the dead mutant and crushed it's head with his foot. Richard then pulled a rag out of his bag and cleaned his knife and his boot.

"WE COULD HAVE GOTTEN VITAL INFORMATION FROM HIM! WHY DID YOU KILL HIM?!" Ludwig screamed in Richard's face, in which Richard replied with an insistent stare, and Ludwig sighed, knowing what Richard was thinking. "Little brother, we could've gotten the location of their forces if we tempted his death enough. I understand your impatience, but this is not the time or place for it." I looked to Ludwig and he sighed, burying his face into his hands. "I guess we should find a good place to set up camp before sundown. I'd say we have a couple of hours before then. Grab the tents, Jenkins. We're going camping." Ludwig began to walk away, and I followed closely. Richard picked through what the mutant had on him, and walked behind Daniel and Jenkins, making sure they wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Why do we have to do all the work?" Jenkins said before Richard kicked him in the jaw, sending him falling to the ground and one corner of the tent as well. I had set up one of the tents myself, because me and my family had moved from place to place very often before they died.

"Just shut up, Jenkins." Richard and Ludwig said in unison, as Jenkins grumbled and slowly got back to setting up his and Daniel's tent. Richard made a fire with some wood gathered from a nearby forest. Once we had eaten a good, hearty meal, we all went to bed. I was woken up what i thought was three hours later, to the sound of a gunshot. I then heard someone choking, followed by a quick snap and a dull thud. I took a candle i had found earlier the previous day and walked to Richard's tent. I gawked at what was before me, Richard had been shot in the abdomen, and Jenkins' body was on the ground, a pistol in his hand.

"What happened here?!" Ludwig said as he ran into the tent. "William, hold this." He handed me a large bag, and pulled a Stimpak and some bandages. "Are you okay, Rick?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

**Well, that took a while. I'm sorry for the long delay everyone, but with school, getting sick, and other random stuff that popped up, I finally managed to get this chapter together. Hope you guys enjoy it, and see you all next week! -Gaming in Honor P.S: This chapter is the end of the 4 chapter long _Genesis Arc._ I won't be updating for a while, and i apologize for that. Have a good day!**


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